The Sentimentality of the Jon Lester Trade

©Kayla Chadwick 2012

In pure rational baseball terms, I don't hate the Jon Lester [and Jonny Gomes] for Yoenis Cespedes [and a draft pick] trade. Cespedes is a solid player, Lester's contract extension talks weren't going well, and it's certainly still possible that Lester returns to Boston as a free agent.

But I'm not a baseball fan because I'm rational - and I'm certainly not a Red Sox fan because I'm rational. I fell for this sport and this team in the same head-over-heels, giddy, out of control way that you fall for a first love. Sure, the fact that I was born and raised in New Hampshire made the Sox an obvious choice, but how could you not fall for the classic beauty of Fenway Park? For the fun-loving antics and absolute domination of Pedro Martinez, who dazzled Red Sox fans in his heyday?

Jon Lester didn't come onto the scene until I was already a diehard, but I fell in love with him just the same. Everyone knows Lester's amazing story: touted prospect is diagnosed with cancer, makes a miraculous recovery and returns to the game in time to win the clinching game of the 2007 World Series. Oh, and the very next season he threw a no-hitter, the eighteenth in franchise history.

Lester is a favorite among fans, teammates, and managers. The looks on Lester's and Terry Francona's faces as the two embraced following Lester's no-hitter never fails to make me tear up.

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Even when Lester was part of the infamous Beer and Chicken Incident of 2011, he was one of the only players involved to come forward, admit it was wrong, and work to move past it. He's grown from the rookie who looked up to Josh Beckett to a player John Farrell can point to as an example when pitchers come up through the system. The student has become the teacher.

Sure, Lester has had poor games, and even the odd mediocre season - but he's a good lefthanded pitcher who can be absolutely dominating under the right circumstances. He typically takes responsibility for his mistakes, and gives his teammates ample credit for their contributions to his successes. 

Lester is a fan favorite - and for good reason. He'll certainly help the A's down the stretch, and give Red Sox fans a good reason to watch the playoffs, even though the Sox are all but mathematically eliminated.

Even though the Lester trade makes good baseball sense, it's hard to see him go. He's yet another piece of the 2007 team gone, a home grown player with a story worthy of a blockbuster film, headed to the west coast in the blink of an eye. Sure, he might be back by next Opening Day - but it's just as likely that we'll never see him in a Red Sox uniform again.

Somehow, Lester is more than a baseball player to me (and, I suspect, to many of you). I hope he's successful going forward, that he wins a lot of games down the stretch, and most of all, that he comes home to us over this offseason.

Lackey deals in Red Sox win

Photo by Matt West

What a difference a week makes - it hasn't been that long since we were crediting the bullpen with being the most reliable part of the Red Sox pitching staff. But last night the starter led the way, as John Lackey tossed eight innings, scattering six hits, no walks, and giving up just two runs.

Lackey departed with a sizable lead, and Edward Mujica came on for the ninth with a five run cushion - but he couldn't nail it down. Mujica managed to get two outs, but it was messy, as he allowed a leadoff double to James Loney, and a walk to Wil Myers - both of whom scored on a single and a throwing error by Xander Bogaerts.

At that point, John Farrell had apparently seen enough, and called out to the bullpen for Koji Uehara, who was able to close out the game on three pitches, striking out Ben Zobrist. How is it possible that Mujica couldn't pitch a single inning with a five run lead?

Luckily for the Red Sox, they now have the roster they had hoped to start the season with, meaning that the bullpen should have more leads to protect in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully Mujica can straighten himself out, because Uehara is thirty-nine years old, and even his seemingly magic arm needs regular rest.

Enough about the pine tar

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I don't want to hear anything else about the pine tar that was (almost definitely) on Michael Pineda's hand last night. John Farrell wasn't concerned enough to alert the umpires, the umpires didn't see anything worth investigating, and that's good enough for me.

Pine tar didn't give up four runs to the Yankees last night. Pine tar didn't stop the Red Sox from hitting once Pineda had left the game. Could the pine tar have helped Pineda's grip, and thus his location? Probably. Is using a foreign substance against the rules? Yes. But let's not pretend Pineda is the only guy who does it.

Our very own Clay Buchholz withstood a media firestorm of his own last year when he dominated with some alleged help from Bullfrog sunscreen. Most managers are loathe to alert the umpires when an opposing pitcher is using some sort of topical assistance, because they know it's likely their guys are doing something similar - and as a former pitching coach, John Farrell has to know the hands of his staff are probably sticky, too.

Pineda's use of pine tar seemed to be particularly blatant - NESN analyst and former Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley called it "outrageous." But everyone seems to agree that the substance on Pineda's throwing hand was gone after the fourth inning - and he didn't start falling apart until the seventh, when he was coming up on 100 pitches.

So maybe the pine tar (or whatever it was) helped Pineda when it was on his hand - but it wasn't the reason the Red Sox lost the game.

This could be THE year

©Kayla Chadwick 2013

The Red Sox have had two walk-off wins to begin the month of August - both of them coming on August 1st. The more dramatic and fun (if there's such a thing as a "lesser" walk-off win) was undoubtedly last night's affair, when the Sox scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

I had essentially written off the game as a loss before it started. The Red Sox had already taken the first two games from the Mariners, and when you see Felix Hernandez on the lineup card, sometimes you just shrug your shoulders and look forward to a fantastic pitching performance, even at the expense of your team.

King Felix didn't disappoint,  pitching seven solid innings and holding the Red Sox to a single run - but as he's undoubtedly come to expect, the Mariners bullpen coughed it up.

As frustrating as that must be for Hernandez, it was great fun for Red Sox fans, and for Red Sox players:

There is something special about this team. They could not be more different from the 2011 version, which was showered with praise from the get-go before proving to be mostly a collection of spoiled stars looking out for themselves. Last year's team was a simple disappointment - the expectations were never as lofty as 2011, and Bobby Valentine helped them to clear the bandwagon of fair weather fans in a hurry.

This team is different. No one picked them to do anything special - they were never supposed to win so many games, never supposed to be in the hunt for the playoffs so late in the season. But somehow, here we are. The Red Sox were buyers at the trade deadline, and remain in sole possession of first place. Manager John Farrell summed up the team's attitude after last night's improbable comeback win: 

“We don’t quit. Ever,” he said. “There’s no quit in this bunch. They truly believe there’s a chance to do something special, whether it’s on a given night or over the course of a given year. That one would be this year.” 

An outlook like that is even better than a 50-home run guy. It's better than a closer who throws 103 MPH. It's the kind of team-first philosophy that makes a city (and a region) embrace a franchise. This team is special. This year is special - this could be the year. And I for one am thrilled to be along for the ride. 

Mother's Day mauling

The pitching woes continued for the Red Sox today, as Ryan Dempster gave up six runs in five innings, before giving way to three different relievers - only one of whom managed to pitch a clean outing. The worst of the lot was Andrew Miller, who only managed to record a single out while allowing three runs to score.

Jose De La Torre gave up a pair of runs in a single inning, while Clayton Mortensen was slightly better, giving up just one run in 1.2 innings, and only Craig Breslow managed to record a 0.00 ERA for the day while completing a single inning. The bullpen, heralded as a great strength of this team at the outset of the season, has become a liability.

Certainly, a large part of the bullpen's struggle has been injury-related, as the opening day closer is now out for the season, and his replacement is on the disabled list. But the big difference between the Red Sox incredible April and their so-far dismal May has been in the pitching - they managed to score four times today, and the score wasn't even close.

One of the things that we all looked forward to with the hiring of John Farrell was his expertise with the Red Sox pithing staff. He's certainly gotten Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester back on track, but his magic touch seems to be missing when it comes to the rest of the rotation and the bullpen. Pitching coach Juan Nieves has his work cut out for him lately, but if Farrell has faith in him, so do I.

Buchholz brushes off accusations

Clay Buchholz does not react to ridiculous accusations about cheating the way I would react - it's just one of many differences between us, a list that includes height, gender, age, and music taste, among various other things. I would have thrown an absolute fit if some has-been like Dirk Hayhurst, he of two major league seasons and a career 5.72 ERA, had the audacity to accuse me of cheating.

Not Buchholz. No, he answered all the stupid questions about touching his own hair and arms patiently, with just a touch of snark: "Buchholz laughed it off and said if he had thrown two innings, opposed to the seven scoreless frames of two-hit ball he hurled, that this probably wouldn't be a story."

John Farrell was less casual about it. Though the manager was told about the baseless accusations secondhand, he wasted no time in categorically denying them. As the first pitcher in the majors this season to six wins, Buchholz is clearly doing something right - and it's just as clear that he isn't getting any help from "foreign substances."

Jerry Remy was even more indignant than Farrell, ranting about the absurdity of it all through a full inning: "I faced Gaylord Perry for god's sake. I think I know what a spitball looks like!"

I think it's pretty obvious why the jealous Dirk Hayhurst though Clay was working with a "foreign substance," and it's because Bucholz DOES have access to something that Hayhurst never had - and that unfamiliar asset is called TALENT.

Buchholz keeps rolling

Obviously beating the Astros isn't an achievement for the ages; it's happened fifteen times already this season, after all. But it is worth noting that Clay Buchholz has officially become the very first starter in the majors to reach five wins this season - and he's done so without a single loss, with a sparkling ERA.

John Farrell thinks that Clay's success is sustainable, and we've certainly seen how incredible his stuff can be. The key to a successful season is always in the pitching, and given how both Buchholz and Jon Lester have pitched to start out the season, my expectations for 2013 are very different than they were on Opening Day.

The offense gave Buchholz a seven run cushion, but he didn't need it, giving up just two runs in 7.2 innings to defeat the newest punching bag of the American League (you're welcome, Mariners). Most of all, Buchholz is fun to watch when he's going well, and he's been a blast to watch this April.

Near no-hitter still a success for Buchholz

It's a strange day indeed when a 5-0 win is somewhat of a letdown, but here we are. Clay Buchholz held the Rays hitless through seven full innings this afternoon at Fenway Park before surrendering a broken-bat single to Rays' left fielder Kelly Johnson to lead off the eighth.

Buchholz was sharp, though not perfect, as he finished his outing with eight innings pitched, two hits, four walks,  and a creer-high eleven strikeouts in 106 pitches. The pitch count had John Farrell somewhat concerned, as Buchholz's walk and strikeout totals caused the total pitches to climb.

Farrell admitted in the post game press conference that he was somewhat relieved when Johnson finally earned a hit in the eighth - it's early in the season, and no one wants to have to decide between yanking a pitcher in the midst of a no-hitter and leaving him in too long and possibly damaging his arm for the rest of the season. Luckily Farrell didn't have to, and Andrew Miller came in with a scoreless ninth inning to finish things off.

It was truly a team effort, as the offense scored five times to give Buchholz a comfortable lead (though they waited until the third inning), and there was some fine work on the defensive side of things as well. Today's win guarantees a series win for the Sox, and since tomorrow's Patriot's Day morning contest is the third straight day game, it's nice to go into it with confidence.

Farrell doing everything right

John Farrell knows pitchers. Ask any Sox pitcher who was here when Farrell was the Red Sox pitching coach, and they'll tell you how phenomenal he was at getting through to guys, and getting the best possible performances from them. Terry Francona often said that Farrell could easily make the transition from pitching coach to manager, and everything we've seen so far backs up that assertion.

Farrell was right to put Joel Hanrahan on the mound this afternoon - and just as right with his quick hook after two straight walks from the closer. Any pitcher can have a bad outing. I was at the game on Wednesday night, and conditions were certainly less than ideal, making it totally reasonable (if not desirable) that Hanrahan might have a mistep.

After that kind of meltdown it's important for the manager to display his confidence that the poor outing was an outlier, which is exactly what Farrell did. But at the end of the day, the job of the manager is to put the right combination of players on the field to win games. Hanrahan couldn't find the strike zone, and the Red Sox were on the verge of wasting an excellent start from Jon Lester, so Farrell acted decisively and pulled him in favor of Koji Uehara.

With the exception of Hanrahan, the Sox bullpen has performed exactly as hoped (I can't be the only one with a budding love for Uehara), and Farrell has managed it admirably. Today's win was a nailbiter (I never would have expected that I would come out of it winless in fantasy baseball, seeing as I started both Lester and David Price), but all wins count the same in the end. Far more valuable that a decisive victory is the knowledge that Farrell will continue to make the difficult - and correct - decisions.

Tito's Cleveland Misadventures

The early returns for John Farrell's managerial career in Boston are overwhelmingly positive, as the Red Sox won the home opener yesterday to bring their record to a division-best 5-2, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't still miss old friend Terry Francona. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating trying to snag him back from the Indians, but some days I'm overcome with nostalgia.

ESPN has a funny article about Tito somehow getting lost during his two-block walk to Progressive Field for the Indians opener yesterday. Francona commented about how he was unused to the friendliness of Clevelanders, but I don't take it personally, because I've always considered people outside of New England to be unnervingly affable.

Seriously though, click through and red the whole piece; it's super short, and a good use of three minutes - I promise you'll chuckle. I'm certainly happy with John Farrell thus far (though after the Bobby V. fiasco, I'm easily pleased), but Tito will forever have a special place in my heart.

Cautious optimism for Lackey

When John Lackey clutched his right arm in the bottom of the fifth inning, I panicked. Though it was pretty obvious that the problem wasn't his surgically repaired elbow, things looked very serious as the heckled John Farrell (stay classy, Toronto) ushered Lackey off the field. 

I had predicted a season of redemption for Lackey early in spring training, and he was pitching like he meant to prove me right, with eight strikeouts through four and a third innings - indeed, his only mistake was a homerun to J.P. Arencibia. If only the Sox had managed any offense at all, things would have looked pretty promising.

As the game went on (and reliever Alfredo Aceves ensured that a win was out of the question), we got the news that Lackey had to leave with "right biceps strain." Afterwards, both Farrell and Lackey expressed optimism, though anything definite will have to wait for an exam in Boston.  Lackey compared the feeling to a severe hamstring cramp, "It's all in the bicep, wasn't elbow. Pretty frustrating, a little scary when it happened for sure."

Lackey also reported that he felt better almost as soon as he made it to the clubhouse, and teammates Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester were reassured once they chatted with him. I have to say that one of the most disappointing things about the situation were the jokes about it on Twitter. I don't care how much you dislike a player, joking about an injury is never funny.

The good news is that Lackey seems to be mostly alright. Severe strains can come with muscle tears and possible surgery - or it could be minor enough that Lackey just needs some rest, and he could make his next start. Here's hoping it's the latter.

Heading north

Perhaps I jinxed things yesterday with my unbridled optimism - I would be the first to admit that optimism isn't a natural state for me, as I'm much more comfortable with the cynic's role. In any case, the Red Sox suffered their first loss last evening, at the hands of the Yankees.

There were some good notes regardless of the loss: David Ross threw out two baserunners last night, and the kids continued to impress. Jackie Bradley Jr. had a double and an RBI, while Will Middlebrooks had two hits and an RBI of his own. Jose Iglesias, clearly gunning to stay with the big club even upon the imminent return of Stephen Drew, went 2-for-3 and bunted for a base hit.

Tonight they'll head north to Toronto, to a welcome that might be rather more hostile than one would normally expect from famously welcoming Canadians. The Blue Jays and their fans weren't exactly pleased when John Farrell deserted them after just two seasons to return to Boston - and you can't really blame them for feeling somewhat betrayed.

I can't imagine the hostility could last too long. Toronto is more of a hockey town than a baseball one, and we all know that Canadians are pretty much incapable of holding onto non-puck related anger for too much time. Either way, I'm sure Farrell won't let a few boos get to him.

Career DHs: A dying breed

With David Ortiz out for at least the first few weeks of the season, Manager John Farrell is in a bit of a pickle - and he knows it:

"We don’t have another David Ortiz," the manager said. "We’ll probably look at some matchups as we plan against a given starter on that day. ... You can keep guys a little more fresh." 

It actually makes a lot of sense in the absence of a franchise player like Ortiz to use the DH spot to rest and rotate others, rather than panicking and signing a high-priced, under-performing replacement. Of course, the beginning of the season is when players typically need the least rest - but it's also much less damaging to the team to lose a player like Ortiz right now than it would be in September.

The trend for teams in the American League has lately been using the designated hitter position as a place to send aging sluggers who have outlived their usefulness defensively, or a place to rotate several aging players in order to keep their bats in the lineup and their creaky knees protected.

In keeping Ortiz as their exclusive DH, the Red Sox are pretty unique, and so the situation as it is now is actually something much more typical among their AL counterparts. Come the end of Ortiz's career, it is unlikely that the Red Sox will sign another full time DH - versatility is much too important to them. In that vein, we can see the first part of the season as a dress rehearsal of sorts.

Lightning and good luck?

Today is the official reporting day for pitcher and catcher in Fort Myers, which means, in my head, that SPRING HAS SPRUNG (despite the nearly two feet of snow outside my apartment). Of course, most of the pitchers and catchers have been in camp for a number of days, and their position player peers are trickling in, as well.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia had a nerve-shaking flight to Florida yesterday, when the plane they were on was struck by lightning in midair. Ells took this occurrence as good luck:

I'm not sure that I've heard anything about this particular kind of omen, but I'll take Ellsbury's word that it's good luck. No word from Pedey (whose lack of a Twitter account is bordering on criminal), but he apparently isn't a huge fan of air travel in the first place, so he was probably just happy to get his feet back on the ground (though you have to think he chose a tough career for a guy who dislikes flying).

Apparently, lightning strikes are somewhat routine for commercial airlines, with each plane being struck once per calendar year, on average. Planes are built to handle such stress, so while the passengers might be unnerved by the bright flash of light, there's typically nothing to worry about.

Hopefully Elssbury's assessment of the situation is correct, because if there's a team out there in need of some luck, it's the Red Sox. Luck to get the clubhouse back where it needs to be, luck to make John Farrell's first season as Red Sox manager a roaring success, and perhaps most importantly, luck to ensure that everyone stays healthy.

This is probably a lot to hope for from a simple lightning strike, but today is the first official day of spring training, the first of many practices and games for the 2013 season, and hope springs eternal, after all.

Does the early bird get the worm?

There are a pretty significant number of Red Sox players already participating in informal workouts down in Fort Myers, which can only be a good thing after last year's rash of injuries that seemed to surpass even the 2010 Parade of Carnage.

While a bunch of early arrivals don't guarantee in-season, or even Spring Training success, it's nice to know that the players are almost as eager to get things going as the fans. As was noted by Globe reporters Steve Silva and Nick Cafardo, being down at Fort Myers early doesn't mean those players are working any harder - most players have pretty legitimate workout spaces and regimens in their own homes.

I haven't seen any photos or reports of Dustin Pedroia in camp, for instance, but anyone insinuating that Pedey is working any less hard than his teammates would be in for a serious and indignant lecture from the outspoken second-baseman.

But it's certainly a good sign that so many players came down to work out together, and I'll hazard a guess that if Bobby Valentine was still employed by the team, we would be seeing fewer Red Sox so early. The pitchers in particular seem excited about Farrell, which (though not a sure thing) can only bode well for clubhouse harmony throughout the season.

2013 Bill James Projections - Daniel Bard

2011 projection: 6-3, 76 IP, 34 BB, 90 SO, 2.72 ERA, 0 saves
2011: 2-9, 73 IP, 24 BB, 74 SO, 3.33 ERA, 1 save
2012 projection: 6-2, 70 IP, 25 BB, 79 SO, 2.31 ERA, 2 saves
2012: 5-6, 59.1 IP, 43 BB, 38 SO, 6.22 ERA, 0 saves
2013 projection: 3-4, 67 IP, 28 BB, 67 SO, 3.63 ERA, 1 save

We saw it before, when the Yankees screwed up the development of Joba Chamberlain, switching him from starter to reliever and back again, instituting the "Joba Rules" of innings limits and generally making certain to squander the potential of their best reliever outside of the legendary Mariano Rivera.

There were fans who were concerned that the same thing would happen to Daniel Bard when the idea of switching him to a starter was first floated last offseason. I have to admit that I did not share those concerns  despite the fact that Bard's biggest stride in the minor leagues was made when he was switched from the rotation to the bullpen; I should have seen this coming.

The Daniel Bard as a starter experiment was a failure of epic proportions, in a season marked by failures on every level. After a somewhat promising Spring Training, it became very clear once the season started that Bard wasn't working in the rotation. He made ten starts, but ended the season as disappointed as the rest of us.

Hopefully a return to the bullpen will improve Bard's numbers as much as Bill James and his team seems to think - an ERA drop of almost three full runs is nothing to sneeze at. The rotation is (for the moment) full, and there's no need for Bard to deal the the added pressures of closing, since the Red Sox currently have two experienced closers. In addition, the presence of John Farrell can only help things for formerly struggling Red Sox pitchers. I think (I hope!) Bard will return to his former dominance in an eighth inning role in 2013.

2013 Bill James Projections - Clay Buchholz

2011 projection: 13-9, 29 starts, 193 IP, 3.54 ERA, 74 BB, 168 SO
2011: 6-3, 14 starts, 82.2 IP, 3.48 ERA, 31 BB, 60 SO
2012 projection: 13-8, 30 starts, 191 IP, 3.53 ERA, 73 BB, 162 SO
2012: 11-8, 29 starts, 189.1 IP, 4.56 ERA, 64 BB, 129 SO

2013 projection: 12-11, 30 starts, 205 IP, 3.56 ERA,  72 BB, 163 SO

Possibly the most striking thing about Clay Buchholz's 2012 performance is that he managed to hold on to a positive winning percentage and win eleven games while his ERA leaped up more than a full run from 2011.  Buchholz made a huge jump in innings between the injury-riddled 2011 campaign and last season, tossing a career high 189.1 innings in 2012.

Bill James projects that Buch will continue to make strides in the 2013 season, with a new career high in innings (205), and a bounceback in his ERA to a much more acceptable 3.56.  It's easy to think of Buchholz as the skinny kid that came up for a cup of coffee in 2007 and won three games in three starts that fall - partly because he still looks just the same.

But 2007 was five years ago, and Clay Buchholz will be 28 next season (29 in August), a player entering his baseball prime. He's not a kid anymore, and if we're ever going to look to him to step up and be a leader on the staff, this has to be the time. I think John Farrell's presence will be good for the pitching staff: though he's the manager and not the pitching coach, he has a lot of respect from the Red Sox staff. I don't think there will be too many pitchers skipping out on their workouts or sneaking from the dugout during games to drink beer on Farrell's watch.

Hopefully Clay can eek out a few more wins than James has him projected for, but even if he can't, a pitcher with 205 innings is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Save us, Jon!

Has anyone ever noticed how many Red Sox possess some form of the name "Jon?" There's Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, John Lackey, and John Farrell... And guess what the "J" in JD Drew stands for? Yes, Jonathan (his name is, in fact, David Jonathan, so I'm not sure how he came up with JD, but I digress).

Does one of these players hold the key to salvaging the season? I'm temped to say it's John Farrell, since he has influence over so many of the players, but in the end these are grown men who are responsible for their own performances.

Personally, I'm hoping they ALL turn it up a notch and start getting it done, starting with Jon Lester's start this afternoon.

Lester is 4-1 against the Yankees in his career, with a 4.01 ERA in ten games; in 2010, he is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts. Take from that what you will, but Jon's not been at his best since the All-Star break.

Sometimes the rivalry is just what a pitcher needs to turn it on, and I hope he can... because I'm not sure those other Jons can go it alone.

Hello there, Pitching...

Finally. THIS is what we were promised, way back in the offseason, back when Jason Bay walked on over to the National League. We were assured that the pitching would save us, even though we no longer had a pack of thumpers in the lineup (and somewhere, Kevin Youkilis wonders what he has to do to get some recognition).

Dude is a BOSS.

After last night's spectacular showing - by both Lester and the bullpen, the Sox are on a roll. They've won series in Toronto, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay, and took one of two in New York, all in the last two weeks, going 10-5 in that span. They are 7-1 in their last eight games, and have a chance to sweep the Rays this evening. If the Sox can win tonight, they would be 5.5 games behind the Rays in the standings, and could pass Toronto to take third place in the division.

It's the pitching. It's always the pitching. Theo knows it, and Tito knows it, and John Farrell knows it, and even the sausage vendors must know it by now. If pitching really does win championships, and our staff can continue with any semblance of their recent brilliance, I'm anticipating a long run into October.


Tonight John Lackey (4-3, 5.07 ERA) will go against the spitter, Matt Garza (5-2, 2.37 ERA). On paper, it looks like Garza's game - especially at the Trop - but I'm going to guess that Lackey's determination not to be the one to end the recent streak will result in a spectacular performance. That combined with certain bats finally catching fire (ahem, David Ortiz) should make for a win. Don't make me a liar, John!

Calendar Boys: Where is Papelbon's Mojo?

Since Trinity College doesn't get anything more than basic cable, I couldn't watch the game last night on NESNplus, so I won't be writing about it (by all accounts it was a disappointment, so hopefully no one will be too upset).

However, as yesterday was May 1st, I had to switch my calendar page, and, being the obsessive compulsive fan that I am proud to be, it's a Red Sox calendar (obviously).  This month the picture is of the inimitable Jonathan Papelbon.  I'll admit to being a little disappointed last month when I turned to April (my favorite month, after October) and saw that the photo was of Jacoby Ellsbury.  Now, I've made my feelings about Ellsbury pretty clear, and the way he started off April didn't exactly inspire me to have confidence in him... if fact, I'm quite sure I dedicated at least one Off the Monster rant to his seeming inability be be a productive leadoff hitter.

Fortunately, by the end of the Month of Ellsbury, Golden Boy was was batting .273, which, on the surface, isn't really that impressive, but in the last two weeks he has been hitting at a .321 clip.  Perhaps that steal of home inspired him to not swing at the fist pitch get on base more often.  I'm convinced that once he learns to do that, he'll be a respectable leadoff man (meaning on base) and be able to utilize his game changing speed.

Now, on to my actual point.  Papelbon (Mr. May, on my calendar), has been somewhat less than impressive this year.  Though the closer boasts six saves and a 1.74 ERA, he has also allowed six walks.  Paps only allowed eight walks over the entire 2008 season.  He's also hit a batter.  Just one, you might ask? No big deal, except for the fact that he hasn't hit anyone with a pitch since 2007.  Papelbon has had an effective career thus far not because he can throw 95-98 MPH, because lots of pitchers can do that.  The Sox closer is effective because he throws at such velocities with pinpoint control, and has a splitter he can throw to keep batters off balance.  

There have been some worrisome signs from Mr. Papelbon during the month of April.  The control is not where we have come to expect it to be, and though he is first in the league is saves right now, it's only a matter of time before those walk totals come back to bite him.  There's been some talk that John Farrell is working with Paps on some minor mechanical adjustment: hopefully that will help him get his pitches where they need to be.  I would like it very much if Papelbon continued the trend of the player on my calendar improving during his month.  (Julio Lugo is in November... when this year's World Series is... gulp.)

Unfortunately, Josh Beckett's scheduled Month of Improvement isn't until August. David Ortiz? December. Oh, dear...